Changling stood dazed with her head lowered, looking at the warm jade in her palm, blinking somewhat slowly. She had thought that throughout the turbulent seas and five continents, the name Changling would at most be an object of occasional sighs from old acquaintances. She had never imagined that there was still someone in this world who always remembered her. But didn’t everyone under heaven believe she had long perished? Why would this Ye Qi think to search for her?
Changling’s heart was full of confusion. There were too many illogical aspects to this, and she couldn’t figure them out for the moment, so she simply set them aside and returned her attention to outside the tower.
Everyone watched as Ye Qi brazenly strolled out from inside the tower and were truly shocked and alarmed. The eight sect leaders had been counting on him to escape and bring reinforcements, but now their hopes were dashed. Each wore a face of utter despair, unable to speak for a moment.
The young monks by the tower entrance heard the three words “Marquis He” and held their long staffs without daring to advance. Ye Qi casually stopped at the high steps and smiled leisurely at Mingyue Zhou: “Third Prince flatters me. Speaking of being bold, reckless, and not knowing whether to live or die, Your Highness is the first person in history to escape alive from Mu Wangbao. How would I dare compare myself to Your Highness?”
“You—” Better not to mention it at all. The mention ignited Mingyue Zhou’s fury. Thinking of all the humiliations he suffered at Mu Wangbao that came from the hand of the person before him, he simply couldn’t calm down: “That this prince stands here safe and sound must disappoint the marquis, I’m afraid.”
“Your Highness’s personal arrival is indeed unexpected. If I were you, I absolutely wouldn’t travel over mountains and rivers just to capture a mere minor marquis…”
Mingyue Zhou stepped forward and glanced at Ye Qi’s empty space behind him. “The marquis is too modest. One East Qi Marquis is worth a hundred thousand of Eastern Xia’s troops. Making this trip and encountering you, marquis, makes it well worth it. Rest assured, since you’ve delivered yourself to my door today, this prince will absolutely not be polite with you.”
“When have I ever been polite with Your Highness? Just now in the Great Ascension Tower’s dungeon, I ran into your attendant Tianhun. I kindly helped him with the locks, but who knew he would attack me from behind and say it was on Your Highness’s orders…” Ye Qi adjusted his sleeves. “Eh, naturally I didn’t believe it, but since he slandered you so, how could I stand by? With one smooth motion, I dealt with him as if he were my own subordinate. Look, I got blood all over my sleeves. Truly shameful, shameful.”
Though his mouth said “shameful,” his eyes were full of smiles without the slightest hint of shame. Mingyue Zhou’s expression immediately darkened. Even Yuan Hai, Yuan Zhan, and the others couldn’t help but be shocked and alarmed. What level of skill did Tianhun possess? That this young Marquis He could kill him—could he actually be a deeply hidden expert?
The four elders unconsciously moved closer to Mingyue Zhou’s side. Ye Qi observed their expressions, and a sense of satisfaction at playing the fox exploiting the tiger’s might rose in his heart: So this is what it feels like to be an “expert”… Not a bad feeling at all.
Changling hid behind the door, watching Ye Qi continuously bluffing and essentially rushing to dig a pit for himself to jump into.
She glanced at the golden ring on her finger, and a thought rose in her mind, but she quickly dismissed it. She had personally witnessed Mingyue Zhou’s experiences at Mu Wangbao. Moreover, since he addressed Ye Qi as marquis, it was clear this rascal held considerable power in Eastern Xia. Great Yan could do something as shameless as imprisoning the eight sect leaders—how could they possibly let the tiger return to the mountain?
The veins on Mingyue Zhou’s forehead protruded slightly.
To be honest, he didn’t quite believe this string of boastful lies from Ye Qi.
Young Marquis He’s illustrious reputation in Eastern Xia had never been earned through martial skills. If he truly possessed such abilities, given his personality he would have beaten drums and gongs to proclaim it to the world long ago. Why would he hide it?
But Mingyue Zhou had indeed stumbled at his hands before, so he didn’t dare act rashly. He only said: “Did you truly kill Tianhun?”
“If Third Prince doesn’t believe it, you can send people inside to look.”
Seeing that he didn’t seem to be lying, Mingyue Zhou’s heart sank a bit. Yuan Hai immediately ordered four or five Arhat Hall disciples into the tower. Ye Qi watched them bypass him and enter the Great Ascension Tower directly, then smiled: “Not sending more people? Just those few might not be able to clean things up.”
These words were spoken for Changling to hear.
Before the young monks entered the tower, Changling had already leaped up to the beams. The several Arhat Hall disciples were completely unaware and headed straight for the cellar. Changling heard Ye Qi’s voice and without thinking flicked silver needles in a throw—five young monks successively rolled down from the cellar stairs without even having time to make a sound.
Mingyue Zhou was completely unaware that Ye Qi had “help” inside the tower. Seeing his fearless appearance, he sneered coldly: “You think you can walk out of here today?”
“Can or can’t—how will I know without trying?”
As he spoke, Ye Qi suddenly swung his long arm, and a white object flew toward Mingyue Zhou’s face. Yuan Kong and Yuan Jue had been alert and simultaneously struck out with their palms, exploding the object into sparks from a distance. Before everyone’s eyes could recover, Ye Qi leaped up like a startled rabbit and a swooping falcon, throwing some unknown object toward the Arhat Hall formation. Yuan Zhan immediately cried out in alarm: “Watch out!”
The Arhat Hall disciples quickly scattered on the ground. That thing flew through the air and landed steadily in Yang Xuzi’s palm—it was a purple glass vial. As soon as Ye Qi’s feet touched the ground, he shouted: “Quickly give it to the sect leaders!”
Yang Xuzi reacted with lightning speed. By the time he heard the last word “leaders,” he had already poured out the pills from the bottle. When Mingyue Zhou realized something was wrong, several sect leaders had already tilted their heads back and swallowed the pills.
Now, not just Mingyue Zhou, even some of the Four Great Elders couldn’t stand it. Yuan Zhan said: “Marquis He, the prince showed you courtesy because you’re alone, yet you use hidden weapons to hurt people?”
“First, please see clearly that this is a candlestick from inside your tower.” Ye Qi raised his index finger, pointing at the shattered white fragments on the ground. “The Daxiao Temple likes to stuff fire and explosives inside candles—that’s your hobby, and no one can stop you. But calling a candlestick a hidden weapon is going too far in bullying people. As for courtesy, the prince was willing to burn such a precious tower for my sake—such treatment makes me feel quite unworthy…”
As he spoke, the Arhat Hall disciples once again surrounded them in multiple layers. Behind Ye Qi, the eight sect leaders were secretly circulating their qi. The antidote took effect very quickly. In an instant, besides Yang Xuzi and Xiao Yin who had already recovered their power, the other sect leaders’ deathly pale faces also regained some color.
The situation in the field once again formed a standoff.
Mingyue Zhou had originally been worried that this young marquis had other tricks up his sleeve, but seeing him act this way, he calmed down instead: “So what if they’ve taken the antidote? This place is surrounded on all sides by this prince’s troops. Forget breaking out—even if we opened the doors and let you walk, with just your few bodies of flesh and blood, do you think you can stand against thousands of troops?”
“These days, who doesn’t have troops and generals?” Ye Qi’s eyes curved. “You couldn’t really think I came alone, could you?”
Everyone was shocked: Could the Daxiao Temple have been infiltrated by other members of the He family?
The person watching the excitement inside the tower silently pressed her brow.
Mingyue Zhou scanned the surroundings with his peripheral vision. “Since Marquis He brought helpers, why not call them all out? That way no one can say this prince won through superior numbers without honor.”
This was just to lure the enemy out. How could Ye Qi not know?
He looked at Mingyue Zhou and said: “Little Prince, let me be honest with you. I had other business tonight, but learning these sect leaders were imprisoned here, naturally I couldn’t stand by. Now that you’re here, perfect—we’re all old acquaintances. How about we sit down, have some tea, and discuss terms properly?”
“Terms?”
“Release the sect leaders, and I’ll stay.”
As soon as Ye Qi said this, the sect leaders’ expressions all showed shock. Xiao Yin immediately said: “Young master, this absolutely won’t do!”
“Yes, young master, how can we leave you here alone?”
Lu Tianlan, Chi Zishan, and the others all rushed to object. Ye Qi acted as if he hadn’t heard, only saying: “What does Your Highness think?”
Mingyue Zhou seemed to be pondering whether there was some hidden scheme in these words: “Given your current situation, what qualifications do you have to negotiate terms with this prince?”
“It seems Third Prince is unwilling to negotiate peace… What a pity, such a pity…”
While Ye Qi muttered “pity,” he paced back and forth. Even an idiot could see he was stalling for time. Mingyue Zhou finally determined that this young marquis had been bluffing all along, so he said to Yuan Hai: “Since the sect leaders have taken the Soft Bone Powder antidote, the masters need not hold back. Capture them…”
“Are the troops at the foot of the mountain the Shazhou Prefecture garrison?” Ye Qi suddenly interrupted him.
At these words, Mingyue Zhou’s body stiffened. He saw Ye Qi smile slightly, a smile full of meaning: “Great Yan and Eastern Xia are about to go to war. Your Highness, as commander-in-chief, disappeared without reason, forcing the attack to temporarily halt, and the tiger tally was transferred to Prince Sheng’s hands… Although Your Highness’s generals are loyal and devoted, without the tiger tally, how can they deploy the three armies?”
Mingyue Zhou said coldly: “How do you know the emperor hasn’t returned military authority to this prince?”
“From Qizhou to the Yan capital, then from the Yan capital to the Daxiao Temple—that’s at least ten days of riding. That Third Prince can appear here shows you haven’t returned to the Yan capital. How could the Yan Emperor possibly send the tiger tally back and forth without asking the reason? That day in Qizhou, Third Prince could deploy the Xuantie Battalion, but Wei City is a重城 resisting our Eastern Xia cavalry. At such a critical juncture, you didn’t dare arbitrarily weaken Qizhou’s military strength.” Ye Qi raised his eyes. “Your Highness has four generals under your command, and the closest to the Daxiao Temple is the Shazhou Prefecture’s commandant Ding Qing.”
Mingyue Zhou was utterly baffled. Many of these inside details were unknown even to his trusted confidants. How did this Marquis He know them so clearly?
Before he could think deeper, he saw a trace of coldness appear at the corner of Ye Qi’s mouth: “Third Prince, outside Shazhou Prefecture, the He family’s troops have been waiting for quite some time.”